Proposed docudrama The Story and Life of Nikola Tesla would include dramatic re-enactments.Image courtesy Wil Cashen

Inspired by maverick genius Nikola Tesla, Wil Cashen invented an electric pickup truck. Now the Los Angeles-based engineer and entrepreneur wants to pay homage to his role model by making a docudrama about the eccentric Serbian-American inventor.

Cashen’s film project Electricity: The Story and Life of Nikola Tesla, which is currently up for funding through Kickstarter, would help educate mainstream audiences about the brilliant scientist whose system for distributing free wireless electricity got squashed by established business interests led by Thomas Edison.

Writer Carol Bourgeois, who began researching Tesla 12 years ago and finally completed her final script early this year, told Wired by phone that when she interviewed people on the streets of Los Angeles, nine out of 10 drew a blank at the mention of the Tesla name.

“It’s time for him to shine,” she said, citing several incidents in which the obsessive-compulsive Tesla got cheated out of profits and patents. “This is a dude that got screwed and didn’t get a penny for any of his patents. That’s where our passion comes in.”

But if Cashen, Bourgeoise, producer Bud Brutsman and director Shawn Papazian achieve their $35,000 goal, The Story and Life could inform new generations about the bittersweet Tesla legacy.

Cashen and his team can only hope to match the success of another Tesla-themed online campaign. Earlier this week, webcomic the Oatmealraised $900,000 on Indiegogo in just seven days to purchase property where the inventor’s lab was located as the site for a Tesla museum.